Happy 7th Birthday Toby!

Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday to you...

Happy Birthday to you-ou, Toby,

Happy Birthday to you!

Our Boy is 7 years old Today!

And how is he spending the day?

              
         

A birthday party with his friends?

No, perhaps a day at the beach?

I don't think so!

Perhaps, he might spend the morning at the dog club doing some exercise?

Nah, that doesn't sound like Toby.

Perhaps he's in the mood for something a bit different.....

I don't think that would be his choice either,

Now that Toby's 7 years old I think his choice would be...

Yes, that's right - a day relaxing and being waited on hand and foot...

Just look at him right at this moment!

What more can I say than...

You deserve it boy!

Have a great birthday

love

Marieanne & James, Missie and Bacci

xxx

Four Weeks To Christmas - Scary!

Hi Guys and Gals,

Yes, I know don't remind you how close Christmas is but - Christmas is close!

This year we decided to buy a combined Christmas present. So yesterday Santa came early - we bought a WII console with WII Fit Plus and WII Sports. The main reason we bought it was because it was on special - (we try never to buy anything retail).

Now, we can get fit and healthy as we grow older. First, we have to learn how to use it...

I also got another present yesterday, that I picked up at the post office, below is my new owl bracelet. I've developed an almost fetish for owl, butterfly and dragonfly jewellery.

Yesterday, which was Saturday, the weather up here was a perfect Spring day, clear skies, cool breeze and warm sunshine - perfect! So, what we're we doing on such a beautiful day? Taking a load of rubbish to the "waste management centre" (formerly the rubbish tip), at Katoomba - and believe me it lives up to its name. No longer do you drive over a lumpy dirt road, breathing in foul air and then throwing all your rubbish onto a big heap of other rubbish.

Now, you drive on a marked bitumen road that leads to a covered carpark like structure where a guy asks you what kind of rubbish you have onboard and then directs you to a particular bay, where you back you vehicle into and then he comes and helps you to take the stuff out of your vehicle and dumps it into specially designated huge waste bins, for steel, paper, wood, plastic and mixed rubbish.

I thought it was great because I didn't have to get out and help!

After we did our grocery shopping at Katoomba, we took the scenic route home via the Three Sisters and Leura....

 Heading towards the Three Sisters

 Three Sisters Lookout

The Three Sisters.

Entering Leura Village

Heading up through Leura

Leura Scenery...

Going pass Leura Cascades

Our beautiful Wentworth Falls Village

Beautiful Post Office cafe....great coffee!

The roadworks at the back of our place on the Great Western Highway are starting to take some shape now but there's another year of work ahead before completion.

Well gotta go and have my morning coffee with James and enjoy Sunday while the day is still gorgeous!

 

Happy Sunday,

Marieanne

Sunday Relaxing - Yeah Right!

Cover of Sunday Morning
Hello all you Sunday campers, have a leisurely sleep in did we all?

Not bloody likely with our dogs. Apart from Bacci wanting to get up about 3am (we managed to ignore him) Missie then started around 6:30am (we ignored her too, well until 7am).

Seems cooler this morning than yesterday's very warm day, it was like winter one day and then summer the next, poor old spring seemed to get lost along the way until today.


We did manage to have a relaxing morning until 9am when we decided to put the camper up to take photos of the inside for the ad in the online trading post. Had to clean off a bit of dirt and dead flowers before we could take any photos.

James then got out the K'Archer water pressure cleaner to clean off all the mould and dirt on the roof. It took him three goes as the cleaner overheated a couple of times so he had to let it cool down before using it again.

It was a job well-done and I think the results speak for themselves.

 Before.....

 .... and after!

While he was busy doing that, I attempted to cement in a mosaic tiles pattern on the back steps leading onto the lawn. Unfortunately, the white cement was lumpy because we've had it a few months and some moisture got into it. I tried to work with it but it became very messy and too many lumps so eventually had to shovel all the white cement out and give up the project for now.

Next time I will use proper tiling grout, hopefully that will work better and be easier to work with as well.

After finishing the roof, James then replaced the mesh in the front screen door - only took a year to get around to doing after fixing it last time.  Last time he did it, we had Stan's dog come for the weekend and it took her one scratch to put a hole in the mesh. Then Toby decided to make the hole bigger so he could squeeze through.

It was none too soon because in the last couple of days the flies have invaded - we must have a couple of dozen permanently buzzing around the light in our lounge room.

 On a lighter note, here is a picture of my new candle holder, I thought it was a bargain as it only cost $18.00. I can't wait to see how it will look at night.

Have a great day!

Cheers,

Marieanne

Pop Top Camper For Sale

Image via Wikipedia
 Yes, you guessed it, Christmas is just around the corner and don't we know it because the shops are jammed packed with everything to do with the Christmas season.

James and I had a bit of fun this afternoon when we went shopping, we set off all the musical Christmas animals and had a good laugh at some of the corny but cute songs they were singing.

My favourite was a dog with long ears that sang "Rocking Around the Christmas Tree" with its ears flapping up and down and it's mouth miming to the words.

By the way, we weren't the only ones laughing, there were a few other people doing the same thing.

It was so hot today! I couldn't believe it, it got to 33 degrees at Penrith - I almost wished it was cold again. The weirdest thing was that this time last week we were dressed in winter woolies because it was cold, raining and foggy.

This morning we cemented in the back couple of circular steps leading onto the lawn. I am going to do a mosaic tile pattern on them tomorrow. The funny part of the whole thing was our darling Bacci tiptoeing on the wet cement having a great time and then the little shit came inside with wet cement paws and decided to decorate the whole house with his grey paw prints. Nice one! Now I have to wash all the floors.

 Have to warn you about the next segment of this post - because it's an ADVERTISEMENT!!!

 CAMPER FOR SALE!

Anyone? We have an ACT pop top camper for sale, rock-bottom bargain price of only $2200AU.

You guessed it we are selling our camper because James wants to buy a camper trailer - his Christmas wish! Personally, I think it's going backwards.

Usually you start with a tent, then upgrade to a camper trailer then a pop top camper then a caravan then a top range motor home then a holiday house - right?

Wrong!!!! We mountain people do things a bit different, if you know what I mean, wink, wink!

I thought buying a country retreat would be nice but James is dead set keen on his camper trailer.

He wants one from Marlin, a dinky di Aussie owned and operated small camper trailer manufacturing company from Woollongong NSW. Really nice bunch of guys and they DO make great quality campers.

I just heard a rumor that some people I know (won't mention names) has already put up their Christmas tree -

What a gorgeous bunch of Christmas elves I've never seen!

Sorry Brianna, but Uncle Sonny says you look like me with that hair style! What can I say but you're one gorgeous chick!

And last but not least, Happy Anniversary to Natalie & Jim on the day that they first met. Hope today was just as hot!!!

Cheers,

Marieanne

Weekend Cleanup - UGH!

Image by Tim Zim via Flickr Spring cleaning in the mountains. We finally ordered a skip bin for the weekend to clear out some of the stuff in the storage room downstairs and to get rid of all the garden clippings and tree branches that came down during recent storms.






We spent Saturday morning doing the storage room and then the afternoon we went grocery shopping another chore I really don't like. Of course it rained while we were working, no surprise!

Sunday was a beautiful clear and perfect day to be outdoors. We spent the morning to early afternoon cleaning up the yard, doing a lot of weeding and planting some plants.

Unfortunately, we didn't quite get it all in the skip bin so now we have a trip to the rubbish tip as well. Feeling very pleased with ourselves on a job well done, we decided to go on a picnic for lunch. So after cleaning up, we packed the dogs in the car and took off up to Katoomba. After buying some lunch we went up to our favourite lookout Narrow Neck, where we ate our lunch while looking at the views.

Here's our boys enjoying the fresh air of the mountains!

I couldn't do this post until now because once again the internet was down.

Cheers,

Marieanne

Happy Birthday Michael

Image via Wikipedia
Happy Birthday Michael
Hope you have a great day!
Here's a special birthday video to celebrate your birthday, hope you like it!


HERE'S SOME FUNNY BIRTHDAY QUOTES!

To the nation's best kept secret; Your true age.

Birthdays are like boogers, the more you have the harder it is to breathe.

Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that people who have the most live the longest!

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional.

Better to be over the hill than burried under it.

You are only as old as you act.

So many candles... so little cake.

Happy Birthday to you, you live in a zoo, you smell like a monkey, and you look like one too.

We know we're getting old when the only thing we want for our birthday is not to be reminded of it.

Two tips on your birthday:
1) Forget the past, you can't change it.
2) Forget the present, I didn't get you one.

Some words of wisdom for your birthday, "Smile while you still have teeth!"


I was trying to think of what to get you for your birthday but nothing came to mind.

You're not old until you can't read this writing anymore. 

Don't think of it as getting older, think of it as becoming a classic.

Cheers,

Marieanne and James

 xxx